Atata Banshee CR 31
Template::Atata template from . There just seemed to be the perfect synergy here... Stablock History and Description Banshees, the spirits of strong willed and selfish individuals, rage eternally at the loss of their own life. But for some, the horror of death goes beyond that experienced by most banshees. For these pitiable souls, they see all of eternity in a glimpse, from the dawn of time to the end of it all, and it drives them insane. Some philosophers have proposed that they saw some sort of grand, beautiful plan for all of life, and these banshees are horrified with the shock and guilt that comes with the understanding that they are no longer a part of it. Others suggest that such a strong willed being coming face-to-face with their own insignificance compared to the vast sum of all time and space is what does it. Either way, these spirits suffer an endless cycle of suffering which can unhinge even the most resolute of wills and inevitably leads to a form of insanity beyond anything expected of the undead. The name "Atata" derives from the exclamation of anguish beyond articulation that the spirit screams as it seeks to end all other life. The time-tortured banshee resembles a translucent human with cracking skin. These cracks leak not blood, but the essence of time itself, which envelops any who come too close. Combat Charisma Drain (Su): When struck by the banshee's touch attack, the target must make a DC 26 Fortitude save or permanently lose 1d4 points of Charisma, or 2d4 on a critical hit. The banshee heals 5 points of damage (10 on a critical) whenever it drains Charisma, gaining any excess as temporary hit points. Horrific Appearance (Su): Any living creature within 60 feet that views a banshee must make a DC 26 fortitude save or permanently lose 1d4 points of Strength, 1d4 points of Dexterity, and 1d4 points of Constitution. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected by the same banshee's horrific appearance for 24 hours. Pain Gaze (Su): As symbol of pain, 60 feet, Fortitude save (DC 26) negates. Targets affected are wracked with pains imposing a -4 penalty on attack rolls, skill checks and ability checks. The effects last for 1 hour after the creature leaves the area of effect. Detect Living (Sp): This ability functions like the commune with nature spell, except that it detects on living creatures and the range is one-half mile. This ability is always active. Stunt Plants (Su): Once per day, a banshee can stunt all normal plants within a one-half mile radius. This ability otherwise functions like the stunt version of a diminish plants (CL 18) Temporal Stasis (Su): Anyone striking the banshee in melee, or anyone struck by the banshee's touch attack must make a fortitude save (DC 26) or be placed in suspended animation similar to a temporal stasis spell. Wail of Destruction (Su): Anyone within 40 feet of the banshee can hear its constant deadly scream and must make a Fortitude save (DC 26) or be killed. Those who successfully save suffer 10d6 damage. This scream can be extended to 100 feet three times per day, but once extended in this manner, cannot be extended again for 1d4 rounds. Temporal Displacement (Su): This ability is superficially similar to the blur spell, however the subject is shifting back and forth through time as opposed to the ethereal plane. Opponents have a 50% miss chance against the banshee, regardless of weapon enhancement, while the banshee itself has a 20% miss chance versus opponents. This miss chance includes force effects, and is uneffected by ghost touch. It also enables the banshee to pass unhindered through spells such as Forcecage and Wall of Force 50% of the time. The banshee also recieves this 50% miss chance when passing through each layer of a Prismatic Wall or Prismatic Sphere. The banshee also has a 50% chance of being able to act normally during any given round of someone else's Time Stop. Individually targeted spells are 50% likely to fail (including Limited Wish and Wish so long as the wish in question is specifically directed at the banshee). The banshee also takes half damage from area attack spells, gains a +2 bonus on attack rolls (already factored in above) and opponents are denied their dexterity bonus against the banshee’s atatcks. Other Notes I used this banshee basically as a great big "Keep Out" sign for a particular part of the map, which had quite an effect of shaping the political geography. If you can't go through the "Shadowed Plains" for fear of instant death, you have to go around. Anyone trying to smuggle through this area is in grave, grave danger. The Atata Banshee isn't just an encounter, it's a natural disaster and feature of the landscape in one, just like a deadly volcano or storm tossed sea filled with hidden coral beneath the water might be. The Template::Time-Tortured template comes from the Immortal's Handbook, but I made a few little changes, starting with the fact that normally, the Atata template is only supposed to be used on creatures with a Constitution score. I made Life Sense permanent, so the banshee could keep it (which also makes sneaking by more difficult), and I made the banshee's natural wail stack with the Wail of Destruction, in terms of calculating distance. Basically, anything that comes near this thing is in severe trouble. Just looking at it forces a save-or-be-crippled, and just having it be within a certain range forces a save-or-die every round. Should it catch up to you, (and with a fly speed of 160' I think that's a pretty reasonable assumption) it drains charisma, gains health, and forces ANOTHER save or be frozen, which amounts to another save-or-die really. All these rolls add up, and someone is going to roll a 1 eventually, even assuming their saves are high enough in the first place. If you want to take one of these things out, the trick is to stay WAY out of its range and pelt it with long range attacks. Don't expect this to be an easy task though, as the 50% miss chance works against everything but area effects, and those have their damage halved anyway. While this creature's AC is a little on the low side for its CR, it's still fairly respectable for sub-epic parties. I could see a quest, even for mid-level characters, in order to obtain the means to fight this thing. With, say, an airship, or hovercraft-like vessel that can go 160' per round, and then a hefty supply of long range attacks, killing it might just be possible... assuming you find a way to restrict it to an enclosed area so it can't run away while you do this. A more dramatic quest object might be something to enable flight at 155' per round though, enabling the banshee to slowly catch up... category:Epic category:Low-Epic